Stantonsburg online - Wayne-Wilson News Leader, Fremont, NC

Mark Cannon of Computer Central in Wilson came before the town council at their December meeting to present information on a county-wide project by his company to provide wireless internet access to rural citizens in Wilson County.

Wilson County agreed to allow the company to install antenna boxes on its water towers in November, and the town of Sims agreed to a similar plan earlier this month.

The town of Black Creek has also agreed to have boxes installed on its water tower to provide service. Mr. Cannon asked the Stantonsburg town council to consider allowing the company to install four boxes on their water tower.

He said that since Black Creek had begun receiving access, the company has had at least 12 calls from people in the Stantonsburg area inquiring about service. Mr. Cannon said that while some in the area receive service from Time Warner Cable or Embarq, many in the more rural parts of the area do not have any options at all for internet service.

Installing the boxes and working with Computer Central would not cost the town anything, save 10 watts of electricity to operate the boxes. In exchange for use of the tower, the company would allow the town to choose one of two compensation options.

The first option would allow the town to receive one free wireless connection for their choice of any town building. The town would also receive 10 percent of the income generated by people using the tower beginning with the eleventh customer.

If the town went with the second option, they would forego the free internet connection in favor of receiving 10 percent from the very first customer onward.

“We feel like it’s a win-win situation,” said Mr. Cannon. He added that since the company had contracted with Wilson County to use county water towers, they had added between 600 and 650 customers.

He said that the town would also incur no liability for use of their tower, and if the tower is damaged because of something the company did, the company insurance would cover all damages.

Councilman Dan Whitley asked how the ability to access wireless internet would affect citizens within the town limits, who already have options for internet service.

Mr. Cannon said that he didn’t intend to steal business from other companies, but having a wireless option in town would simply give citizens there a chance for faster internet access, as well as wireless options.

Cost for residential users begins at $49.95 per month for the lowest speed offered, and offers other rates for higher speeds.

The councilmen also discussed the potential of using the free connection for a town police car. Police Chief John Hunt added that having wireless internet access in town would save money on a current project to install computers in town cars. Currently, the town would have to purchase wireless modems for the cars in order to connect to the Internet to retrieve information. However, if wireless access was available, the department would only have to purchase wireless cards for the computers, saving an estimated $4,000.

The town agreed to discuss the project further at their January meeting, and make a decision at that time.

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Issue of 20 December 2007

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